I agree it is painful to read. But his style is the triumph, don't you think... Apparently the subject matter of Heart/Deceitful is much less stylized. (Now I am definitely not taking it on my trip...!)
On a related note, I rec'd the film "The Piano Teacher" for my birthday, and it's enough to put any tourist off S&M... Total candor - that being a 'true sadomasochist' is not actually much fun, OR glamourous. No pop cool there at all, no groovy fashions, or spooky techno equipment. Just the urge: its horrifying need, subject to (often vile) power play.
This is what offends about the brou-ha-ha around JT - that somehow it's COOL to be or have been in degradation.All the more offensive his fan base of privileged women, for whom real sucking-and-fucking whoring isn't an 'option' in any of their contracts.
But JT'll never go back to the truck stop again... Tell your tales of mayhem and heartbreak, only to realize they're not so much caring about you as getting OFF on it. The very people who bring you out of it - now, on the way up, they're jacking off on you. STILL!
He has a fan-base of more protective caring types, who raged about the "I Fucked JT Leroy" t-shirts. (That was one of the articles in the earlier link here.)
Bye for now... Carry on!